1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat for use with vehicle and automobile, and is particularly directed to a seat provided with a seat climbing/descending aid structure and a seat climbing/descending aid for that purpose, which allows a physically handicapped person, such as an aged or disable person, to easily climb onto and descend from a seat of the vehicle.
2. Description of Prior Art
A vehicle or automotive seat has a seat cushion providing a seating basis on which a driver or passenger can sit at the buttocks. Some of the seats employ a seat cushion of the kind which has a backwardly inclined seating area (see (12) in FIG. 4, for example) and is provided with a pair of upstanding side support members (see (12--12) in FIG. 1). This sort of seat is what is called a "bucket-type seat" with a backwardly lowered or inclined seating surface, and has been employed in many of vehicle seats. For, a driver or passenger feels comfortable within the seat, with his or her buttocks part seated and supported deeply in that backwardly inclined area of seat cushion. Also, the two upstanding side supports insure holding the driver or passenger from both sides to avoid lateral unpleasant movement of his or her hip and thigh portions relative to the seat.
Normally, in the action of climbing onto and descending from the seat in vehicle, an occupant on the seat has to first take his or her legs out of the vehicle via the opened door, then leave the body laterally therefrom in a bowed posture, and finally stand up.
In the seat of vehicle or automobile, as an occupant descends therefrom via a door space at one of both lateral sides of vehicle (or automobile) body, both outer lateral sides of the vehicle body, which lie in the width-wise direction of the body, are defined as "seat climbing/descending sides" with respect to the seat. The occupant, driver or passenger normally climbs onto or descends from the seat via one of such seat climbing/descending sides and door space of the vehicle.
However, in the case of the foregoing seat having the backwardly inclined or lowered seat cushion, an occupant on the seat feels it difficult to take a rapid descending action from the lowered seating surface of seat cushion. Particularly, as many of known seats employ the so-called "bucket-type" seat cushion having two upstanding side support members, the occupant on the seat is prevented by those side support members from taking out his or her legs from the seat, when getting off the vehicle or automobile. Also, the occupant is kept seated deeply in the lowered area of seat cushion. As a result, the occupant can not easily change his or her posture to descend from the seat, and can not take a balanced posture and action to smoothly descend from the seat, neither. In that case, an ordinary person of ordinary age and physical strength can overcome those difficulties by using his or her ordinary arm strength and flexible physique. But, this may be impossible for an aged or disable person with less physical strength. That is, even an improved seat of this kind, having the above-stated good support and seating depth, is of a high likelihood that an adverse effect will be given to the physically handicapped person.
Further, such bucket-type seat with the backwardly inclined or lowered seat-cushion seating surface is not suited particularly for a lower-part handicapped person having any defect in his or her lower half of body and thus having any other actions than to move his or her buttocks and thigh portions horizontally and laterally in relation to the seat. Apparently, the two side supports and uneven seating surface of this seat results in hindering such one-directional movement of handicapped person. As the door space of vehicle or automobile is generally narrow and lower, a nursing person can not easily help and guide a physically handicapped person in climbing onto and descending from the seat.